Increasing Your Swimming Exercise Efficiency

As a triathlete swimming exercise takes on a whole different meaning than that of competitive swimmers. Triathletes need to stay in top shape for three different types of sports while only left with the exact same amount of time for training as a runner, a swimmer or a road cyclist.

So the two keys are efficiency and sacrifice. Becoming more efficient in each training method and sacrifice methods that are less appropriate for our goals.

We want to focus on the 20% of effort that give us 80% of our desired outcome.

Even when not competing or training, this is where specially designed swimming exercises come in to accomplish a number of goals related to speed, accuracy, skill and recovery time. All of these areas are easily covered by working a number of different exercises into your daily swim routine.

One of the best things you can do is to integrate as many different strokes and styles into your training routine as possible. Many swimmers have a specific stroke they are especially good at and highly competitive in. This is accomplished by natural talent, strict training and a swim exercise routine that accomodates those strokes for the optimal performance come race day.

Another of the key areas to maintain when competing as a triathlete is distance. You need to maintain a certain level of endurance in order to be competitive in the distance area of the competition. In order to stay successful in that there are two key ways to gauge your distance performance during exercises and workouts.

Take a two week period of time and track the number of strokes it takes you in a set amount of time to go a particular distance. You want to do this every day to watch for progression. An example would be on day one you swim twenty-five meters in forty-five seconds with twenty five strokes.

Then if you look at day fourteen and you swim the same twenty-five meters in the same forty-five seconds but with only twenty-three strokes, then you have improved your overall level of efficiency. You are getting more distance out of each stroke.

The second way to use this method of exercise and training is to aim for a lower time using the same number of strokes and distance. So, on day one you swim twenty-five meters using twenty-five strokes in forty-five seconds. Then by day fourteen you are doing the same distance with the same number of strokes in only forty-two seconds, you have gained speed.

Both of these are a great way to work swimming exercise into your daily routine and still work to increase your level of preformance and endurance making you a better competitor and triathlete.

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